Huguette Clark’s treasures up for auction

The possessions of the late Huguette Clark, one of the wealthiest and most secretive women in America, will be auctioned off. They include a Stradivarius violin worth an estimated $7.5 million and a Claude Monet painting valued as high as $30 million.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>>we've made our way to
christie's auction house
for a closer look at a remarkable collection. it has all the makings of a hollywood mystery. reclusive heiress dies leaving behind a massive fortune. but it isn't fiction. it's the fascinating life of
huguetteclark
.
huguetteclark
, her name and life cloaked in mystery, as one of the wealthiest and most secretive women in america. she died in
2011
at the age of 104, so private, this is believed to be the last photo taken of
huguetteclark
in public in
1928
. she was 22. the daughter of a copper baron,
clarkleft behind
a fortune worth over $300 million, including three sprawling estates, perfectly manicured, but left unused for decades. a seaside mansion in
santa barbara
, california, worth $84.5 million. a 52-acre connecticut retreat worth over $14 million. and perhaps the most stunning, three apartments in the same building on new york's famed fifth avenue. 42 rooms worth $54 million. she had $75 million worth of personal property, including a $25 million
monet
painting. despite these luxurious homes filled with fabulous possessions,
huguetteclark
spent her final time on this earth somewhere else, choosing to live in a new
york city
hospital for the last 20 years of her life. all right, the
clark
family treasures are now up for auction here at
christie
's, including a rare treasure from the
music world
. let's begin our tour with multiple
grammy winnerjoshua bell
. he's one of the world's most renowned and celebrated violinists. good morning, nice to see you.

>>nice to see you.

>>say hello to my little friend. tell me about this.

>>well, i just grabbed it out of that case. i feel like a kid in a
candy shop
. this was made in
1731
by the greatest maker of all time. it was played by rudolph kroitzer, w kroitzer,.

>>you've owned three of these violins.

>>i own one now.

>>each one has its own personality. can i hear the personality of this one?

>>well, this one, i love the low and the bottom. the g-string, as we call it.

>>it's got a rich, warm quality.

>>any idea on the price of something like this?

>>i don't know. they're saying it might go for around $7 million to $10 million. which is a bargain compared to that over there.

>>as i move on, will you continue to play a little bit for us?
joshua bell
. thank you very much. i want to say hi to brooke lampley for us. head of
impressionist art
here at
christie
's. this is a beautiful
monet
.

>>also a bargain.

>>talk to me about this painting. there are was painted in
1907
and comes from his
water lily
series, when he moved in
1883
, but later, he would devote himself for over 30 years to just painting the surface of his lily pond.

>>the violin was found in a closet. where was this?

>>this was in a
sitting room
. and it's been -- it had been in the apartment on fifth avenue for so many years, it has not been publicly exhibited since
1926
.

>>it's unbelievably beautiful. can we just mention there are a couple of other renoir paintings as well.

>>there are two renoirs. three that we're offering from the
clark
collection. this is a
still life
with chrysanthemums and a
young lady
with a parisol, both painted in the
1870s
. great early impressionist dates. both like the
monet
absolutely pristine, kept in perfect condition. sequestered away for so many years. and now it's exciting to bring them to the public.

>>an amazing collection from a very mysterious and wealthy woman. brooke, thank you very much.
joshua bell
over there, thank you very much. coming up